


Take the Hint

by F1_rabbit



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-18
Updated: 2017-08-18
Packaged: 2018-12-15 06:36:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11800467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/F1_rabbit/pseuds/F1_rabbit
Summary: People might not believe in soulmates any more, but that doesn’t stop fate from trying to drop some hints.[Or the five times that fate tried to tell Max that Carlos was his soulmate, and the one time Max paid attention.]





	Take the Hint

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dr3amingInColour](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dr3amingInColour/gifts).



The first time Max met Carlos it was a cool December day, the clear blue sky a pale imitation of its summer glory.

He shivered as he walked up to the Toro Rosso factory, but the sight of Carlos with his tanned skin and kind smile warmed his soul.

“Hello, team mate.”

Max laughed, mumbling the word hi, and he felt so awkward compared to Carlos, his self-confidence radiating out of him.

It was almost like his skin was glowing, causing the sparks that were making Max’s knees weak, but Max just put it down to nerves.

“I’ll race you in the sim? Slowest buys dinner?”

“Deal.” Max grinned, showing off all his dimples as they raced towards the simulator room, laughing and cheering like kids. The engineers gave them some funny looks as they ran down the corridors, but what else did they expect with two teenagers racing for them?

That evening Carlos bought him dinner, just two thousandths of a second had separated them, and Max smiled for the entire night.

The warm fuzzy feeling made Max feel like he was on top of the world, and his reward of a burger and chips tasted sweeter because Carlos had bought it for him.

He was so glad to have Carlos as his team mate.

It was going to be a good year.

*

Max yawned for the third time in as many minutes, stretching as he tried to wake himself up, and he nearly ended up elbowing Carlos in the face.

“Sorry, mate.”

“Late night?” Carlos’s smile made him feel relaxed, and he sat down next to him, out of the way at the back of the garage.

“Yeah.” Max stifled another yawn, covering his mouth with the back of his hand.

Carlos leant in close, his eyebrows wiggling as he waited for the gossip.

“It’s not what you’re thinking, I’ve never raced here before, so I spent the night going over the data from last year and watching old races on YouTube.”

“Fun.” Carlos stuck his tongue out, and Max gave him a playful nudge. “Come on, let’s get a coffee.”

They wandered into the hospitality motorhome, all either of them had to say was, “Coffee, please.”

The team knew how he took it, and Max sat yawning until it arrived, taking the brown mug out of the assistant’s hands. Her thick black hair and pale skin made her look like a porcelain doll that had been brought to life, and she was a talented artist, drawing the cartoons that adorned the garage.

“Thank you, my coffee providing angel.”

She laughed, smiling as she handed Carlos a blue mug.

Max took a sip, his coffee was perfect, just the right amount of milk and sugar.

“Wait, that’s Carlos’s coffee, I put it in a brown mug to match his eyes.” She blushed, her eyes focused on the coffee as she swapped them round. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Max took a sip to show that it was all fine, not bothered at the fact that Carlos had already drunk some of it.

It was perfect.

“Looks like we both take our coffee the same way.”

“Spooky.” The assistant smiled, the blush fading from her cheeks. “You must be soulmates.”

Max snorted in laughter as Carlos chuckled away, tears streaming down his cheeks.

“There’s no such thing as soulmates.”

**

New year, same team mate.

Max was glad to see Carlos again, it was nice to have a friend in the garage, and it made winter testing more fun.

When they were in the engineering debrief, Carlos was busy texting someone, and Max was curious.

Normally they told each other everything, but Carlos hadn’t mentioned a girlfriend, or a boyfriend.

Max waited until they were back at the hotel, away from cameras and journalists. The lift was slow, and Max took his chance to ask Carlos.

“Have you met someone special?”

“No, why?”

“I saw you smiling at your phone during the debrief, you definitely weren’t smiling about the changes to the front wing.” Max nudged Carlos in the ribs, grinning as he watched Carlos squirm.

“I’ve not met anyone, yet.” Carlos took out his phone, scrolling through the apps until he found one that Max didn’t recognise, its icon a heart inside a star. “It’s a dating app,” Carlos whispered, showing Max the pictures of his eligible matches.

“I never thought you’d have to use a dating app.”

“Hey, I travel all the time for work, it doesn’t leave a lot of time for meeting people.” Carlos snatched his phone back from Max, his attempt at being grumpy spoilt by the smile on his face. “You should try it.”

“Maybe I will.”

The lift pinged to say that it had arrived at their floor, and Max ended up hanging out in Carlos’s room, watching movies and talking about random stuff.

When he got back to his room curiosity got the better of him, and he signed up for the app, wondering who he might meet.

He woke the next morning to see there was one match, but he laughed when he opened it.

Carlos.

Max checked all the settings, including the one that said he was looking to meet a woman, and tried again, but there was still just one match.

“Typical, Carlos gets lots of pretty ladies,” Max muttered to himself, “And I get Carlos.”

The drive to the track was quiet, and Max was dying to tell Carlos about his failed attempt at finding someone special.

“I signed up for that dating app.”

“Nice, got any matches yet?”

“Just one.”

“Are they pretty?”

“I’m not sure they’re my type.”

Max waited until they had pulled up at a set of traffic lights before showing Carlos his match.

“Me?” Carlos burst out laughing as the lights turned to green, and Max was worried that they were going to end up in an accident. “I think it’s a sign from the universe.”

“We’re just going to have to get used to being single.”

***

Getting the Red Bull seat was a dream come true, but it meant no more Carlos, and things just weren’t the same without him.

He was busier than ever now that he was in the main team, and there seemed to be an endless stream of photoshoots and media appearances.

Max was rushing to get to an interview with Dutch tv, pulling on his shoes as he hopped around the room looking for his watch.

It had slid under the bed, and Max stared at it for a second before realising what was wrong.

The time was stuck at 9:43, and the date said December 3rd, 2014.

Max sighed, it was the fifth, no sixth, watch that had inexplicably broken, and he could tell that the sponsors were sick of fixing it for him.

He frantically twisted the little dials, but the display didn’t move and he groaned out loud.

Christian was going to be disappointed.

****

The year flew by in a blur of race wins and champagne, but there was something missing.

It wasn’t the same without Carlos.

He’d wanted to call him, but he wasn’t sure what to say, and now it had been weeks since they’d spoken last.

Max thought about heading to Madrid, joking about wanting to escape the cold, but he wasn’t sure if they were friends anymore.

Sleep didn’t come easy to him that night, and he found himself tossing and turning, his mind flashing up images of a beautiful garden.

The sky was clear, but the sun was low, and there was a chill in the air. Scattered around the garden were flowers of all shapes and sizes, leading the way down a path. Max followed the flowers, their delicate scents reminding him of something that he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

People were gathered, sitting in rows, facing an arch that had vivid purple flowers trailing over it, and there was a priest.

He was at a wedding.

Max wondered how he ended up here, and his mind flashed up another image, his sleeping body fidgeting as he rolled over.

The sun was warm, and the grass was soft beneath his knee. In his hand was a silver ring, glinting in the sunlight as his hands trembled.

Engraved on the inside of the ring was three dates, two of which were in the future, but Max had no idea what significance they held.

3/12/14 – 18/8/17 – 3/12/17

He held out the ring, the sun’s glare obscuring his view of the person that he was proposing to. Their long hair sat just above their shoulders, and Max felt a deep connection to them, a love so strong that nothing could break it.

And then he saw the person that he was proposing to.

Carlos.

*****

Max hadn’t really spoken to Carlos since that dream, he’d assumed that his crush was one-sided, and kept his distance. It was for the best.

He spent his summer break hanging out with friends, and he smiled to himself when he realised the date.

August 18th.

The date from his dreams.

Every night he dreamt of the same thing, a proposal, and then a wedding. He’d even gone so far as to buy the ring and get it engraved with the same three dates that he’d seen.

The ring was sat on his bedside table, in the hope that it would put an end to it all. But lately the dreams had got more detailed, as though he was being transported through time and space to those exact moments.

He crawled out of bed, rubbing at his eyes, wondering how much longer he could ignore the fact that lack of sleep was becoming an issue for him.

Max made himself a coffee, double strength to wake himself up. He added three sugars, pausing only to tuck his hair behind his ears.

And then he screamed.

He rushed to the bathroom, his face so pale that his skin looked translucent, and he stared at his reflection, tugging at the long black hair to check that it was real.

Max yanked out a clump, pain shooting through his body as blood welled up in little pinpricks.

It was definitely attached.

He wouldn’t have put it past his mates to glue a wig on to his head, but this, this was something else.

The hair was thick and soft and lush, hanging down around his face in dazzling waves. It was the sort of hair that would look perfect on someone with a tan, with deep brown eyes, and a sexy Spanish accent.

Someone like Carlos.

Max downed his coffee, the warmth burning at his insides as his stomach churned, and he tried to figure out what on earth was going on.

He ran his fingers through the hair, imagining what it would be like to do this when the hair was attached to Carlos.

And then someone knocked at the door.

Max rushed to find a cap, anything to hide the fact that his hair wasn’t his own. He pulled a woolly beanie over it, tucking the ends in as he threw on a pair of shorts.

“Carlos?”

He was stood there in jeans and a jumper, a baseball cap covering his hair. Although Max was sure that it wasn’t his own thick black locks that were hidden underneath it. Carlos was fidgeting with the cuffs of his jumper, tucking them over his hands as he glanced around, checking that they were alone.

“Hi. Can I come in?”

“Sure.”

The tension in the air was so thick that Max could feel the vibrations, and he led Carlos to the kitchen, pouring him a cup of coffee without saying a word.

There were no words for a situation this strange.

“I think we’re soulmates,” Carlos said, at the exact same time as Max blurted out, “I have your hair.”

Max took the beanie off, shaking out his locks as Carlos stared at him.

“I woke up this morning with this.” Carlos pulled his cap off, his face almost alien with Max’s mushroom quiff. “And I think I may have screamed.”

“Me too.” Max blushed, reaching out to hold Carlos’s hand, and sparks flew between them. Actual sparks that flickered as the air rushed around them, Max clinging on to Carlos’s hand as a white light blinded them.

Max blinked until he could see again, and Carlos was standing there with his gorgeous hair.

“It looks much better on you.” Max smiled, leaning in closer until he could feel Carlos’s breath against his skin, his whole body tingling with excitement as their lips met.

Max ran his fingers through Carlos’s hair, delighting in the feel of it against his skin, a contrast to the scratch of his stubble. They kissed until they were both breathless and smiling, Carlos resting his forehead against Max’s.

“I can’t believe we waited so long to do that.”

“Me either.” Max kissed the end of Carlos’s nose, making him smile, and Max realised why it had all happened now. “I have a surprise for you.”

“You knew I was coming?”

“Not exactly, but now I know why today’s date is so special.”

“The dreams, you had them too?”

Max nodded, grinning as he looked out of the window. “Go wait in the garden for me.”

Carlos looked confused, but Max waved his hands, waiting for him to move before rushing to the bedroom.

Carlos had a grin on his face, looking angelic as the sun shone down on him. Max clutched the ring tight in his trembling hands, getting down on one knee in front of Carlos, the glare from the sun blinding him as he held the ring out.

“I know we’ve only had one kiss, but it was the most amazing kiss, and I know deep down that we’re meant to be together.”

“Yes. Yes, I will marry you.”

“You’re not even going to wait for me to ask?” Max stuck his tongue out as he slid the ring on to Carlos’s finger, holding his hand as he got to his feet.

They sat down on the garden bench, Carlos’s arm around his shoulders like a blanket keeping him safe from the world.

“If the first date is the date we met, and the second date is the day you proposed… what’s the third date for?”

“It’s the day we get married,” Carlos said, intertwining their fingers, “In my parents’ garden.”

“That’s why it looked familiar.” Max smiled, staring into Carlos’s eyes. “Do you think we can organise a wedding in four months?”

“My mum has been waiting for this day, the hard part will be getting her to wait until December to hold the wedding.”

Max laughed, cuddling in to Carlos as they basked in the warm summer light.

He knew their wedding day would be perfect, because he was going to marry his soulmate.

***** *

**Author's Note:**

> With thanks to DamsinDistress, writtenfripperies, and everyone who does those face swap edits, for ideas :D
> 
> *and obviously none of this actually happened, it is all a figment of my twisted imagination ;)


End file.
